Orthotics: Partners in helping you with more than foot pain.

Orthotics from our clinic are a custom built device designed to align the foot and ankle into the most anatomically efficient position. They are built to improve function and alleviate pain in the foot and lower extremities. They look like insoles, but are biomechanical medical appliances that are custom made to correct your specific foot imbalance. Who needs orthotics? People of all ages wear orthotics, from young children correcting gait issues, to people wearing them for greater comfort to athletes improving their performance. Seniors with sensitive feet and people who are at risk for developing painful corns, calluses and ulcerations can benefit with the use of accommodative orthotics to provide comfort and pressure offloading. What conditions do they help alleviate? Are they only for feet conditions? Health care practitioners may prescribe orthotics to help with foot pain. Orthotics are commonly recommended for helping with the difficulty of foots conditions such as pes plantus (flat feet), pes cavus (high arch), plantar fasciitis, bunions, diabetic feet, calluses and corns from poorly fit shoes. But orthotics are not only for foot conditions. They assist in support for ankle and for knee conditions as well as in support of leg length discrepancies. They can also help minimize pain in low back conditions and other strain and sprain conditions. If the pain isn’t in my feet, how can orthotics help me? The body has a kinetic chain when standing and walking – if one part of the lower limb is not aligned or moving properly the entire chain is affected. If the inflammation and pain is in your knee, for example, the underlying cause might be the way the feet hit the ground, causing the knee to moving abnormally, stressing the tissue and cause inflammation. How often should I upgrade my orthotics? Much like your orthotics being a custom built device for you, your frequency of updating and duration of wearing them is solely based on your condition. We will provide you with a recommendation of use that is best for you. How will I know that the orthotics are helping and not other therapy? Most of the time, the healing and correction process is not due to one type of treatment. Research has shown that when more than one treatment modality is given from one therapist, the patient has better result compared to one treatment at a time.

With and without an orthotic

How do I know if orthotics will help me? It starts with a complimentary consultation with our chiropractor at Fisher Heights Chiropractic Clinic. If determined you will benefit from orthotics, our chiropractor with complete a biomechanical examination of the structure and motion of your legs and feet, and a gait analysis to evaluate your walking. 2. A non-weightbearing molded cast of your feet will be taken in subtalar joint neural position in order to fabricate the custom orthotics. 3. Once the orthotics are received, we will educate you on how to wear them best and become accustomed to them. If you are using extended health insurance for the purchase of your orthotics, we will supply you with necessary forms when submitting to your insurance plan. 4. We will follow up in a few weeks to answer to any questions or concerns you may have regarding your orthotics.